Don't Stand So Close To Me
by Amrun
Summary: A collection of unrelated KakaSaku one shots, including contest entries. Updated when the plot bunnies strike. Most likely a wide variety of humor, romance, genfic, tragedy, etc. Follow for random funsies. (Chapter 1 manga spoilers up to Naruto 635.)


**Author's Notes:** This is the first installment in this little collection of KakaSaku one shots. I imagine that most of them, like this one, will be hastily cobbled together contest entries for various kakasaku groups. This one is for the AU Contest at the kakasaku lj. I've realized I do too many of these to give each its own story, or I'd have a millionty billion one-shots. So here is a little group of fun for you.

This was looked over by the lovely LolaLot, who is a doll for doing this so last minute. (I forgot about this contest and was like ohgodohgodohgod must write something, flaked on last contest too, ohgodohgodohgod).

This is my alternative ending to Naruto Chapter 635. So ... manga spoilers, beware! Not mine, don't own, etc.

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When Sasuke returned, Sakura watched with a quiet, barely noticed flop of the stomach. He was home and he intended to pick up right where he left off – and Sakura didn't need to ask Naruto, or even look in his direction, to know that Naruto had every intention of picking up where they left off as well.

And so Sakura tried to tell herself that's how it would be, though she probably didn't do a very good job of faking it. She never did.

When Sasuke declared he would be Hokage, Naruto said nothing. His impassivity, more than anything else, told Sakura how much it upset him. Naruto didn't talk about where Yamato and Kakashi were right now – and at the thought, her blood quickened in a way that almost surprised her. But just like that, Naruto would not talk about this. He would cover up his pain with boisterousness, give a thumbs up to the alliance while he was pouring his lifeblood into its veins.

Naruto was their superhero and they did not question him. They did not think he had weakness – could not – because if Naruto had weakness, then their hope was forfeit. Naruto knew, and didn't say a word. His doubt in himself was quiet, quiet, quiet pushitdown, pushitdown as he gave a big-toothed grin to the troops.

Only Sakura knew what Naruto was doing to himself right now, and so she healed him, did what she had made into her purpose for this very reason.

Sasuke used to know Naruto like this. Sasuke used to know _her_ like this. The Sasuke she had fought so hard to save would never try to take away Naruto's only dream, just like Naruto would give his life to help Sasuke restore the Uchiha.

Sakura knew that Sasuke was dead. She had tried to kill his shell, spent hours polishing poison into the steel of the kunai she held with limp hands – but his face was so like Sasuke's, not like a dead shell at all. What if he was in there somewhere? What if what if what if what if what if what if –

Sasuke. Fighting back to back with Sasuke and Naruto. It was happening, it was what she had dreamed about for so long, it was real, it was – horrible. She couldn't concentrate, was almost killed by what should have been a fly to her. Sasuke saved her.

This was supposed to be her moment of triumph, the moment she'd been holding inside her like a shining gem all this time. She had sacrificed her chakra, her efficiency, her ability to fight and heal to her fullest capabilities for three long years, and all for _this_ _moment_, when she could shed her old self like a snakeskin and rise to their level all at once.

It had passed in a daze. She had hardly known what was happening, had immediately embarrassed herself and shown that no technique could rescue her from being the person she was.

The bitter realization brought tears to her eyes, tears that stung and had no hope of concealing themselves as they tracked down her dirty cheeks.

She had barely gotten herself together when Sai asked the question. Of course it was Sai, ever watchful, ever curious. Everyone else assumed that Sasuke's return would overjoy her – even she had.

"How do you really feel about it, Sakura?"

Her back went rigid and she stayed facing away from him, knowing he'd analyze her every facial tic. _Pushitdown, pushitdown._

"It's all right. Sasuke-kun came back for us. I'm happy about that and … I trust him."

It wasn't a lie. Not really. Sasuke came back ready to fight on their side, miracle of miracles, and the alliance sorely needed him and the help he brought. She could be nothing but happy about that. She trusted him to aid them in this fight, because that's what he said he'd do, and no matter how much Sasuke had changed, he was still honest to a fault.

_It's not a lie,_ she told herself again, and turned to smile at Sai, hoping to convince him. She could tell by the look on her face that she had not. Sai wasn't judging her, though. He never did.

Naruto, she knew, would not understand. He and Sasuke would quibble, but there would never be a part of Naruto that wished Sasuke had never returned, even if Sasuke somehow managed to be confirmed as Hokage over Naruto.

What would Kakashi think? Her gut clenched. He was fighting Obito – _pushitdown, pushitdown_ – but she had to have faith in him. Kakashi was strong. He could do it. He would return and see all of Team 7, even his old sensei, and it would bring her the feeling she was waiting for, the feeling she was expecting when Sasuke came home.

And yet it was only the last part she doubted. Of course Kakashi could kill Obito in a one on one battle – but would he? They were so alike, she and Kakashi. When she was in his shoes, they had never even had to talk about what happened with Sasuke. Kakashi came for her. He knew she wouldn't be able to kill Sasuke – just like she knew he wouldn't kill Sasuke in the confrontation that followed.

But would Kakashi kill Obito? That was the question, and she was afraid she already knew the answer.

Pushitdown, pushitdown. Kakashi would do it, to save her – the entire shinobi world, she self-corrected. Her _and Naruto_, at least.

It was much safer to think about how Kakashi would react to Sasuke. The last time they saw each other, Sasuke was visibly fantasizing about killing their sensei, and it was this more than anything that had made her feel so foolish for forgetting (emptyshell pushitdown emptyshell).

It had almost broken Kakashi. He would never show it, but Sakura knew. After she put her foot in it with Naruto, there was only Kakashi, who understood her. Things were so tense with Naruto, his smile fake around her for so long, that she forgot what it was like to be herself with him until recently, until this war. But Kakashi never let her forget. He was easygoing with a calmness that irritated her to no end as a genin but was a comfort to her now.

But Kakashi had poured all his love into the place that needed it most – the black hole that was Sasuke. The black hole that had _consumed_ Sasuke. Sasuke turning on him had disconnected something essential inside Kakashi.

She devoted herself, for a while, to finding the cut wires and crossing them until they sparked back to life. She thought she was successful, until Obito came along.

Obito blaming Kakashi for Rin – as it happened, Sakura knew from the look on Naruto's face that he knew nothing about it, which had perversely warmed her from the inside out – had snapped all the wires again, once more turning Kakashi's insides into a maze of sharp metal.

And now Sasuke was back, and already usurping Sakura's rekindled connection with Naruto. Would Sasuke burn this thing, tender and new, between her and Kakashi, the way his black flames were burning the Juubi? Pushitdown. Sasuke was the center of their team before, most important to everyone, including herself – but now, she wanted to be more important to at least one other person.

With Sasuke in the way – she shouldn't think of it that way, she scolded herself – would Kakashi even let her in to put the pieces back together? Would she even get the chance to try?

All of a sudden, the fabric of space and time rent the sky like it was paper. Obito tumbled out, landing on his feet and headed towards the Juubi.

Naruto and Sasuke took off after him. Sakura stood, rooted to the ground, craning her neck upwards – because the portal had not closed. She held her breath, waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting –

Kakashi fell through the hole, the curtain snapping close behind him, leaving the sky as if it had never yawned like an abyss. He crumpled in a heap on the ground, not stirring.

The air she'd been holding inside her lungs like a good luck charm expelled all at once as an unholy screech and she was by his side.

Her fingers were already forming rapid seals and slugs were already on their way, but as he reached up to stop her hands as they frantically took vital signs, she realized he was fine. Her grip on his vest tightened. She wanted to kill him for worrying her like that, but that was, perhaps, counterproductive.

"Don't feel bad. He's a monster, superhuman – no one could take him out one on one," Gai said, and it startled Sakura into letting go of Kakashi's lapel. She hadn't even registered Gai being there.

Kakashi shrugged, still prone on the ground, but Sakura deliberately met his gaze. It was half-lidded, almost lazy, as was customary, but she knew better. Kakashi could no more kill his childhood best friend than he could kill any of his students.

"It's okay," she said. "It's okay."

She expected him to smile, maybe ruffle her hair, and agree, but instead, he visibly cringed. "Don't," he said raggedly.

Sakura lifted Kakashi's headband, performing a perfunctory check of his Sharingan. "Sasuke's here."

She was trying to say something to him, hoping he would understand, as he so often did – but he didn't, this time, and the lines on his face only deepened.

"No, he's fighting for us. And he is… He will turn the tide of the war. I know it."

The defeat on Kakashi's face was slowly replaced with dawning wonder.

"Just imagine if I had killed him back then. What would happen now?" she said, waiting for the wires to cross.

He reached out a trembling hand and clamped it down on her shoulder – the most forward he'd been towards anyone in his life, that she'd ever witnessed. It told her that inside him, the maze was worse than ever.

"No one can see the future, Kakashi. We can only do what's right in the moments given to us."

He stared at her, stared and stared and stared. He didn't go running off looking for Sasuke. In fact, the first thing he said was –

"Your forehead."

She scowled; his timing with jokes was always _impeccable_ in the sense that it made her want to pummel him into the ground like a nail into a board. "Don't you even start with me –"

"No. The jutsu. You completed it."

Her jaw snapped shut abruptly. Of course he meant her seal mark. She had already forgotten.

"Yes."

He smiled, that casual, half-tilt of his lips she had thought it would be a long time before she ever saw again, mask or no.

"Then it's time to get this show on the road, isn't it?"

She stood, pulling him up with her by the forearm.

"Race you to the fun part."

He met her challenge with a smirk, and she knew what it meant: _good luck with that._ She tried to hide a pout at the (truthful) implication that he was faster than her, but he caught it anyway.

"Five second head start, then."

She pushed him forward. "No way!"

"All right. You asked for it."

He launched into motion and she took off behind him, grinning despite the fact that they were headed full-speed ahead into the most fatal conflict in history.

She landed beside Kakashi, schooling her features as she assessed the situation. When Kakashi spotted Naruto and Sasuke combining their jutsu like they had been doing it their whole lives, his smile brought to her a giddiness she hadn't known for years. Pushitdown, pushitdown, she told herself, regaining her business-like mask. Now was time for war.

Sakura was wrong to regret Sasuke's homecoming, and she was wrong to doubt Kakashi would return as well – but she had never been so happy to be mistaken in her life. Everything happened for a reason. Even though the situation was now direr than it had ever been – right before her eyes, Madara was helping Obito become the Juubi jinchuuriki – Sakura felt more hope than she had ever felt. Team 7 was whole again, and together, there was nothing they couldn't defeat.

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**A/N: **Thanks for reading! This one was a bit ... strange, sleep deprived, and rushed, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway. Drop me a line to tell me what you think. As always, constructive criticism more than welcomed**. **Voting will be up soon on the kakasaku lj group!


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